Jennifer Hudson attends the Revlon Concert for the Rainforest Fund dinner and auction at The Pierre Hotel on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 in New York (left). (AP Photo/Evan Agostini) The former home of Hudson and her family boarded up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. When the trial of William Balfour begins Monday, April 23 for the 2008 killings, it will be an all-too-familiar story of death and violence in Englewood on the city’s South Side (right). (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) | AP

CHICAGO -- The house is like many others nearby. Blinded by boards over windows after witnessing the worst kind of violence, the white two-story house, its paint chipped and its front steps crumbling, sits vacant behind a rusty iron fence that separates an overgrown yard from the cracked sidewalk.

About the only difference between it and thousands of boarded-up buildings in Chicago's most notorious neighborhood is that Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson grew up here – and her mother, brother and nephew died here, allegedly gunned down by Hudson's brother-in-law, a known gang member. That and the shrine of teddy bears, candles and flowers was bigger than others that sprout up on these blocks when life ends violently.

When the trial of William Balfour begins Monday in the 2008 killings, it will be an all-too-familiar story of death and violence in Englewood on the city's South Side.

At a time when cities across the country have seen the number of homicides fall, sometimes dramatically, Chicago's jumped by a whopping 60 percent the first three months of the year, and Englewood's violence was a big reason why. The 15 slayings there in 2012 are nearly double the number reported during the same period a year ago.

Last year, not only did the number jump to 60 from 40 the previous year, but the total number of homicides reported in this roughly 20-by-20 block community was more than half as many reported for the entire city of Washington, D.C. and a little less than a third of Houston's total for the year.

"It happens here all the time," said Jean Carter-Hill, a community activist whose group helps children and families. "I can't even run to all these funerals, it's just too many, looking at all these dead people in caskets all the time."

In Chicago, Englewood has become synonymous with street crime. Since he took office last May, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has used the word "Englewood" as almost shorthand for gangs, guns and the dangers facing the city's children. But the deteriorating neighborhood has presented him with one of his biggest challenges, becoming a focus for his promise to deploy more police officers to the street while cracking down on Englewood's gangs.

"The mayor says very publicly that a murder in Englewood is a murder in the city of Chicago (and) just because it happened there it is not OK," said Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, in an interview with The Associated Press. "People feel abandoned in those neighborhoods and we are saying you are not abandoned."

Residents say they've seen police commanders and anti-gang initiatives come and go over the years, and the neighborhood just gets more violent and the criminals more brazen. Just as in years past when public housing residents slept in their bathtubs to protect them from the bullets that pierced their walls, residents say the fear of gun battles has pushed some of them deep into their homes and away from their windows where they could be hit by stray bullets.

"People don't give a damn, they just shoot you across the street, they come into your house and shoot you," said 80-year-old Homer Wright, who made headlines this month after shooting a teenager who allegedly broke into his tavern, where he'd taken to sleeping to prevent break-ins. The authorities dropped charges against Wright but confiscated the handgun he owned illegally for self-protection.

There are a host of reasons for Englewood's downward spiral. But they mostly boil down to an exodus of families from an area that was predominantly single-family homes, resulting in an explosion in the number of abandoned buildings, and an influx of gang members.

Home to 100,000 residents in 1960, Englewood's population has dwindled. It had dropped to about 40,000 in 2000 and to 30,000 just 10 years later. Part of the reason, Carter-Hill and others say, is that families moved out to safer places and others lost their homes when they lost jobs during the recession.

According to the police department, there are more than 4,100 abandoned buildings in Englewood, nearly 600 of them vacated in just the last 15 months. One study found more vacant homes in Englewood and the community to the immediate west than anywhere in Chicago.

It all has created an atmosphere ripe for a category of people nobody wanted to see: Gang members who left the city's torn-down public housing high rises and found the abandoned houses magnets for crime.

"We've seen gangs come in, run cords from the house next door for electrical service and make it look like a regular house and they're using it as a gang house," said Leo Schmitz, commander of Englewood's police district.

Moore said the Hudson family still owns their now-empty house, but they've apparently stopped trying to remodel it after vandals broke in at least twice to steal construction materials. He sees Hudson's sister come by once in a while, but hasn't seen Jennifer Hudson, who even after she became famous came by to talk with people and even jump rope with kids outside.

But he does see gangbangers on the street all day, every day.

Among those, authorities say, was Balfour, the suspect in the Hudson family slayings. While prosecutors say the killings had a domestic motive, tied to his deteriorating marriage to the singer's sister, his life story is a familiar one in Englewood.

A high school drop-out, Balfour was a member of the Gangster Disciples and had a long rap sheet for drug offenses, stealing cars and ultimately a seven-year stint in prison for attempted murder and vehicular manslaughter. A little more than two years after his release, he was behind bars again, charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

McCarthy said the Englewood gangs are more rigid and territorial than the gangs he saw when he was a ranking member of the police department in New York and chief in Newark, N.J. That means a rival gang member on a street where the drug trade is controlled by another gang can mean only one thing: Likely gunfire.

In response, Schmitz said he has ordered intelligence about gangs distributed to all police officers, not just the anti-gang squad. And he's ordered officers out of their cars and walking the community more than ever before – a practice Carter-Hill said is necessary to build trust where there has long been suspicion of police.

Antie Moore, who lives a few doors down from the Hudson house, said he thinks things have gotten worse since the national media arrived to interview people after the killings. A city clean-up crew came a few days ago, but Moore suspects it had more to do with news crews' return ahead of the trial than anything else.

"They only cleaned up the alley behind (the Hudson house) and a little bit of the lot next to it," he said. Then, he said, "They left."

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An Oct. 28, 2008 file photo shows a photograph of Darnell Hudson Donerson and her 7-year-old grandson, Julian King, at a makeshift memorial outside Donerson's home in Chicago. Donerson along with her son, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death inside the home Oct. 24. King was found shot to death inside an SUV on the city's West Side three days later. Donerson is the mother of singer and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. On Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, William Balfour, the estranged brother-in-law of Hudson, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of the family members. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

This undated photo provided April 6, 2012 by the Cook County Sheriff's Department shows William Balfour who is charged in the murders of the mother, brother and nephew of Oscar winner and singer Jennifer Hudson. Hudson takes center stage in a questionnaire that potential jurors are being asked to fill out to determine if they will be allowed to decide whether or not Balfour is guilty in the slayings. Nine of the 66 questions released to The Associated Press and other media outlets Friday, April 6, 2012 dealt with Hudson's career in movies, television and as an author. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Department)

This undated file photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows William Balfour. Balfour, the estranged brother-in-law of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson, was charged Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of three family members. (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections, File)

This photo shows the courtroom where William Balfour, the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson's family will be tried, Monday, April 16, 2012, in Chicago. The Trial will begin next week in the Cook County Criminal Courts Building. The use of Twitter is creating tension between reporters and judges who fear tweeting could threaten a defendant's right to a fair trial and that issue has been highlighted by the Chicago court's decision to ban anyone from tweeting at Balfour's trial. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

In this Sept. 27, 2011 file photo, singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson speaks in Chicago. On Monday, April 23, 2012, the Chicago trial begins for William Balfour, the man accused of murdering Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in 2008. The use of Twitter is creating tension between reporters and judges who fear tweeting could threaten a defendant's right to a fair trial. The issue has been highlighted by the Chicago court's decision to ban anyone from tweeting at Balfour's trial. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

Michelle Davis-Balfour, mother of accused murderer William Balfour, refuses to talk to the media as she leaves Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, after bail was denied for her son who was charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion in connection with the murders of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's family. Prosecutors allege Balfour, Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law, killed three family members because he was angry the singer's sister was dating another man. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Michelle Davis-Balfour, mother of accused murderer William Balfour, refuses to talk to the media as she leaves Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, after bail was denied for her son who was charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion in connection with the murders of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's family. Prosecutors allege Balfour, Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law, killed three family members because he was angry the singer's sister was dating another man. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

This Dec. 3, 2008 file booking photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Department shows William Balfour who is accused of killing the mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson on Chicago's South Side in 2008. Balfour is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia. On Tuesday, March 27, 2012, a Cook County judge denied a request to delay jury selection in Balfour's trial. Jury selection starts April 5 and the trial is set to begin April 23. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Department, File)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Residents watch behind police tape as police work and investigate in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Police enter a home in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: A police officer stands outside the home in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Police stand outside a home in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Journalists watch behind police tape as police work and investigate in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Police police remove a body from a home in the Englewood neighborhood where 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, was reported to have been found shot to death on the living room floor October 24, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. According to reports, Hudson's brother was found dead in a bedroom of the home. Police are searching for a suspect and Donerson's missing grandchild. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: A memorial sits outside the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Police Tape is stretched around the outside of the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Ziff Sistrunk looks over a memorial outside the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: People stand near a memorial sitting outside the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Ziff Sistrunk looks over a memorial outside the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Spectators, police and journalists gather outside the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Julia Hudson (L), the sister of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, stands with Greg King, the father of her seven-year-old son Julian, as they plead for Julian's safe return during a press conference at Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Yesterday Julia Hudson returned home to find her mother 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, and her brother Jason shot to death and her son missing. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: Police Tape is stretched around the outside of the home of 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, the mother of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Donerson was found shot to death in her living room yesterday and her son Jason was found shot to death in a bedroom of the home. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 27: Friends and neighbors place flowers and gifts at the house of singer Jennifer Hudson's mother October 27, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. The body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, was found on the West Side three days after the murders. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 27: A Chicago Police forensic services vehicle unloads items at the parking garage where the SUV sought in the hunt for singer Jennifer Hudson's nephew was taken after it was found on Chicago's west side October 27, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. The car contained the body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, who had been missing since October 24, when Hudson's mother and brother were killed at their home. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 27: Chicago Police investigate the scene at 13th Street and Kolin Avenue where a young boy was found dead in the SUV sought in the hunt for singer Jennifer Hudson's nephew on Chicago's west side October 27, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. The car contained the body of 7-year-old Julian King, Hudson's nephew, who had been missing since October 24, when Hudson's mother and brother were killed at their home. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 2: Friends and relatives attend a memorial service for relatives of Oscar-winning actress, singer Jennifer Hudson at Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist Church on November 2, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, brother Jason and nephew Julian King, 7, were murdered on October 24 when Hudson's mother and brother were killed at their home and her nephew later found on October 27 dead in a SUV. According to reports, Hudson and her nephew's mother, Julia Hudson would not to be attending the service. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 2: Friends and relatives attend a memorial service for relatives of Oscar-winning actress, singer Jennifer Hudson at Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist Church on November 2, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, brother Jason and nephew Julian King, 7, were murdered on October 24 when Hudson's mother and brother were killed at their home and her nephew later found on October 27 dead in a SUV. According to reports, Hudson and her nephew's mother, Julia Hudson would not to be attending the service. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 2: Friends and relatives attend a memorial service for relatives of Oscar-winning actress, singer Jennifer Hudson at Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist Church on November 2, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, brother Jason and nephew Julian King, 7, were murdered on October 24 when Hudson's mother and brother were killed at their home and her nephew later found on October 27 dead in a SUV. According to reports, Hudson and her nephew's mother, Julia Hudson would not to be attending the service. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 3: Flowers are loaded on to a hearse after the funeral of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson's family at the Apostolic Church of God November 3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, brother Jason Hudson, and nephew Julian King were murdered on the south side of Chicago late last month. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 3: Pallbearers carry a casket oput of the Apostolic Church of God after the funeral of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson's family November 3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, brother Jason Hudson, and nephew Julian King were murdered on the south side of Chicago late last month. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 3: Pallbearers carry a casket to a hearse after the funeral of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson's family at the Apostolic Church of God November 3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, brother Jason Hudson, and nephew Julian King were murdered on the south side of Chicago late last month. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)